Activity Details
Title: eBook Purchase
Narrative: Pennsylvanians have access to purchased e-content that links from the POWER Library to supplement K-12 education and higher education. This is an effective way to expend dollars on collections that are equitable for residents of Pennsylvania with access to internet and devices, because schools and people without a dedicated public library can access all of these titles through POWER Library. 350 new titles were purchased in March 2022 in the subject areas of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, Mental Health, and STEM resources. All E-books are viewable on screen; and many are available for downloading and offline viewing.
POWER Library E-Books are available from powerlibrary.org in Find E-resources under the following categories: EBSCO E-books, Gale E-books, and ProQuest E-book Central. Residents will be prompted for a public library card number to access them, and those without a library card may sign up for an E-card for immediate access.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Content
Mode: Acquisition
Format: Digital
Quantity
Number of hardware acquired: 0
Number of software acquired: 0
Number of licensed databases acquired: 0
Number of print materials (books & government documents) acquired: 0
Number of electronic materials acquired: 350
Number of audio/visual units (audio discs, talking books, other recordings) acquired: 0
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: Yes
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: No
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 0
Academic Libraries: 0
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 0
Other: 0
Activity Details
Title: POWER Library Training and Support for Libraries
Narrative: Abstract: The POWER Library has a dual user group: the general public and librarians. Librarians and teachers must be proficient in how to use POWER Library resources in order to show students and the general public how to use them. Throughout the year training is scheduled to teach the uses for POWER Library resources, including how to use the statewide catalog and interlibrary loan system, chat reference services, online reference databases, and how to scan and use digitized resources. POWER Library training is designed to be flexible enough to address training needs all year long. Training is conducted annually using a combination of online documentation, in-person or webinar events, and with online recorded videos. In FY2020, all training was conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, using Zoom, GoToMeeting or GoToWebinar. 1,157 librarians attended 24 online training sessions in FY2020. Evaluations following training report learning objectives were achieved 85-99% of the time. Training also helps librarians to meet their continuing education requirements. In FY2020 school librarians submitted 224 Act 48 credit hours.
Online training events are recorded and captioned for viewing afterward. Examples of training sessions include: Building Digital Services with POWER Library (to support of online programming); Going Virtual! Collaborative Virtual Reference in 21st Century PA Libraries (using Chat with a Librarian to push reference services outside library walls); and EDI in Action! Putting Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion to Work in Library Programming. Access to previous training handouts and recordings are available in the "For Librarians" section of the POWER Library at: https://powerlibrary.org/librarians/get-training/previous-trainings/.
Recorded introductory training is available in the "For Librarians" section of the POWER Library for the interlibrary loan system, Chat with a Librarian, and for setup and use of digitization equipment and resources. There are two videos about the interlibrary loan system, one video about Chat with a Librarian and eight videos about the Scan PA program. The availability of recorded training also addresses staff turnover in between times when regular training is held.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Instruction
Mode: Presentation/performance
Format: Virtual
Quantity
Presentation/performance length (minutes): 64
Number of presentations/performances administered: 24
Average number in attendance per session: 48
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 40
Academic Libraries: 3
SLAA: 0
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 0
School Libraries: 8
Other: 4
Activity Details
Title: Chat with a Librarian
Narrative: The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that library services cannot be limited to physical buildings. At a time when people are physically separated from one another, online contacts and services fill the void. Pennsylvania residents have the ability to chat with a librarian online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the POWER Library service: Chat with a Librarian. Administration of the program includes staffing, training, scheduling and monitoring the quality of chat sessions provided. 38 Pennsylvania public and academic libraries staffed the Chat with a Librarian service in 2020. When Pennsylvania librarians are fully occupied responding to chat sessions, or are unavailable, the service draws on librarians from an international pool of participating libraries. Users may ask anything, and are not prompted for any personal information, however if they wish to receive a transcript of the chat session, an email address must be provided.
In FY2020, HSLC focused its efforts on user engagement, and examined the best ways to reach audiences of different ages and types. New services queues were created for POWER Library and K12 users. Additional Chat support librarians were hired, and SMS/text service was added to our traditional chat and email session opportunities. Our social media tools were reviewed and matched to follower types. Exit survey questions were refined and updated. 96% of those surveyed rated the information they received as Good, Very Good or Insanely Helpful and 81% would definitely use the service again.
Chat questions are many and varied, from Pennsylvanians looking for: articles about virtual learning and its effects; articles about the effects of homeschooling; the average income of Chicago citizens in 1885; books and ebooks about Native American culture; information on foods they could eat while on a no salt diet; information to help their students; who were the first 3 African American women to get a Ph.D in Library Science.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Instruction
Mode: Consultation/drop-in/referral
Format: Virtual
Quantity
Total number of consultation/reference transactions: 34,704
Average number of consultation/reference transactions per month: 2,892
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: No
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 589
Academic Libraries: 138
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 64
School Libraries: 2207
Other: 0
Activity Details
Title: Access to e-Resources
Narrative: The POWER Library provided subscriptions to 28 online databases with thousands of full-text periodical articles, newspapers, photographs, pictures and maps to support the informational, educational, financial and personal needs of Pennsylvania citizens. These online reference databases cover topics of interest from toddlers to adults and also serve as reference resources for the Chat with a Librarian service operators.
Direct access to online databases was provided from computers and devices at over 2,900 Pennsylvania public and school libraries, and remotely by home-users with a public library borrower card or e-card number at https://powerlibrary.org/e-resources. Examples of subscriptions include Academic One File (full-text scholarly content for designed specifically for academic institutions), Associated Press Images (includes over 3,000 photos, images, sound bites and graphics), Auto Repair Source (DIY auto repair manuals), BookFLIX (video and books pairings for PreK - Grade 3 about Animals and Nature, Earth and Sky, People and Places, ABC’s and 1, 2, 3’s, Family and Community, Music and Rhyme), Business Insights (full-text articles and statistical data about companies and industries for business owners, marketing professionals, investors, and students), Health and Wellness Resource Center, Cybersmarts (teaches children how to be safe, responsible, and smart citizens, offering eBooks that teach how to avoid predators, play games safely online, protect privacy, and use social networks), Informe Academico (supports Spanish-speaking researchers with a wide range of full-text Spanish- and Portuguese-language scholarly journals and magazines), and Science Reference Center (provides hundreds of full text science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, and more than 280,000 high-quality science images).
These resources were searched by users over 42 million times, and over 7.7 million items were viewed. The subscriptions strongly support educational curriculum, and 90% of total usage was attributed to elementary or secondary school students or their teachers. Leveraging statewide subscriptions for online database content resulted in each school having access to databases valued at over $55,000. Public libraries with access to POWER Library databases averaged savings in the equivalent of $90,000 in content for each library. Approximately 25% of K12 schools have access to POWER Library e-resources only.
Last year, the pandemic forced most students to learn from home for the entire school year, prompting HSLC to develop a single sign-on (SSO) solution for easier access. HSLC offered SSO to schools districts and independent schools so that their students had immediate access to POWER Library e-resources once they logged on with their school email accounts. HSLC developed SSO services for schools using the Google and Clever platform, and over 100 schools and districts enrolled. SSO will remain an important service beyond the pandemic, as students will continue to learn both in-school and from home.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Content
Mode: Acquisition
Format: Digital
Quantity
Number of hardware acquired: 0
Number of software acquired: 0
Number of licensed databases acquired: 28
Number of print materials (books & government documents) acquired: 0
Number of electronic materials acquired: 0
Number of audio/visual units (audio discs, talking books, other recordings) acquired: 0
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: No
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 589
Academic Libraries: 138
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 64
School Libraries: 2207
Other: 0
Activity Details
Title: Statewide Online Catalog and Interlibrary Loan Management System
Narrative: The ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA statewide online catalog is a resource that serves the public, librarians and inmates in state corrections institutions. Known in the POWER Library as Books, Movies and More, it includes over 8 million titles of physical and electronic materials available for borrowing by Pennsylvania public, academic, special collection and high school libraries, saving over one million dollars in purchase costs in a typical year. The public may browse the statewide catalog collection at accesspa.powerlibrary.org to request titles not owned in local libraries. Librarians use the statewide catalog to request interlibrary loans for titles not available in local or system collections. The statewide catalog software generates a title request and begins to route it through the potential lending libraries. Lending libraries update the statewide catalog noting their intent to ship the book, DVD, etc., and then mail it to the requesting library. With over 40 million copies of titles, the fulfillment rate for requests is high. In FY2020 the average fulfillment rate for requests was between 81-83% even though the number of requests dropped due to the pandemic's impact on library availability.
In FY2020 over 70,000 items were requested., and 80% of them were requests for books. With an average hardcover cost of $28.00 this represents a savings of nearly $1.6 million to borrow versus purchase the same material.
The ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA statewide catalog also serves state corrections institutions (SCIs). The full collection is duplicated into standalone systems for 24 SCIs, making the collections of 1200+ participating libraries available for borrowing. SCI systems are specially customized to operate without access to the Internet, and requests generate printed interlibrary loan request forms for SCI librarians to mail or fax to potential lending libraries.
The statewide catalog includes a custom catalog just for children in grades K – 5. This kids' catalog is available from the POWER Kids page at kids.powerlibrary.org, and serves up search results that are tailored to this audience level only. Jacket covers are especially popular, and the title records help younger children learn how to cite sources for homework and reports. In FY2020, HSLC added more cover jacket images across the entire statewide catalog.
The statewide catalog also serves as a large repository of cataloging records. These bibliographic descriptions of books, DVDs, videos and ebooks are available for download by participating libraries. Shared cataloging saves time and money, allowing librarians to export and modify cataloging records instead of purchasing records from vendors. Regular collection updates from libraries and their materials vendors ensure cataloging records are available for new titles.
Interlibrary loan activity dipped during the worst of the pandemic, but it has rebounded now that libraries have resumed regular, if reduced, operating hours.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Content
Mode: Lending
Format: Combined physical & digital
Quantity
Total number of items circulated: 0
Average number of items circulated / month: 0
Total number of ILL transactions: 70,189
Average number of ILL transactions / month: 5,849
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: No
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 420
Academic Libraries: 80
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 42
School Libraries: 895
Other: 0
Activity Details
Title: PA Photos and Documents
Narrative: s one of the original 13 colonies, often referred to as “the Keystone State,” Pennsylvania has a rich and varied history that has been captured in photographs, documents, and artifacts of interest. PA Photos and Documents enables Pennsylvanians to search and browse the content digitized by libraries and other organizations across Pennsylvania. Digitizing aging and rare historical materials is important to preserving our collective history and cultural heritage, and to making them broadly available for research and study.
The PA Photos and Documents service supports the needs of middle school and high school students by offering primary source materials that support reports and homework assignments. The archive includes over 800 collections by, for, and about Pennsylvania, with over 3 million pages of scanned content viewable by subject or contributing institution. PA Photos and Documents collections are harvested for inclusion in the Digital Public Library of America (dp.la), making them available for viewing from a national archive.
Over 70 institutions contributed content to PA Photos and Documents in FY2020. They include the State Library, public libraries, public and private schools, academic institutions, and cultural institutions. The content ranges from yearbooks to cookbook collections, to local newspapers, and church and missionary history. Last year, over 1.1 million pages were viewed in PA Photos and Documents, making it the most visited service in the POWER Library.
The Pennsylvania State Archives also participates in the POWER Library, with images from over 33 state departments including Agriculture, Education, Health, and Justice and over 570 collections such as: Appointment and Commission Books for Civil Officers, 1790-2009; Cheney University Yearbooks, 1939-1988; Constitutional Convention 1776 Minute Book; Governor's Minutes, 1838-1959; Opinions of the Attorney General (PA)1874-1927; Postcards; Posters; Record of PA Medical Licenses, 1964-1971; Records of Drafted Men and Substitutes 1862; School Attendance Record (PA) 1935-1936; and Turnpike Commission Files 1938-1972.
The POWER Library digital archives uses the open-source platform Islandora and is available at: https://powerlibrary.org/collections/.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Content
Mode: Creation
Format: Digital
Quantity
Number of items digitized: 0
Number of items digitized and available to the public: 3,645,617
Number of physical items: 0
Number of open-source applications/software/systems: 0
Number of proprietary applications/software/systems: 0
Number of learning resources (e.g. toolkits, guides): 0
Number of plans/frameworks: 0
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: No
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 37
Academic Libraries: 20
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 12
School Libraries: 5
Other: 1
Activity Details
Title: POWER Library Website Administration and Support
Narrative: The POWER Library portal is a one-stop location for online library services available to all residents of Pennsylvania. The URL www.powerlibrary.org connects users to Books, Movies and More (the statewide catalog), Chat with a Librarian (24/7 virtual reference), e-resource subscriptions for personal, educational and business use, and PA Photos and Documents, a digital archive of materials by, for, and about Pennsylvania. The web site has 437 pages specially designed for use by adults, young adults, elementary school-age students, including 315 custom pages for librarians. The documents archive holds over 6,300 files. The POWER Library website was used by 374,240 unique visitors, who accessed 1,458,596 web site pages in 775,837 browser sessions.
In addition to the main user website, custom sites with resources appropriate to their audience levels are available for children in grades Pre K - Grade 3 at kids.powerlibrary.org and for middle and high school students at teens.powerlibrary.org. All three sites are built to be mobile-friendly, rendering well on all devices, whether PCs, tablets or phones.
The POWER Library also serves the professional librarians' community, with "For Librarians" pages, a location for professional support materials at: https://www.powerlibrary.org/librarians/. Unless restricted by contractual obligations, this content is open and available to librarians anywhere. Each POWER Library service available to the public has a corresponding location for professional support in For Librarians with documentation, training, participation information, statistics, and more. During fiscal year 2020, the web pages For Librarians were accessed over 103,000 times.
Within the For Librarians section of the portal, HSLC uses open source code to further customize the website for the academic, public, K12 and Special collection libraries that participate. Examples include a customized registration process for training, a specialized form for custom training requests, and a POWER Library participation directory with library contact information, and an email system that turns support requests into Help Desk tickets. HSLC administration for the POWER Library program also includes regularly issued e-newsletters for both librarians and the public. Past issues are available in the For Librarians section. ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA News is issued twice monthly and features articles that assist librarians in using the POWER Library resources, and POWER Library News is issued monthly for the general public, highlighting e-resources, Chat and other POWER Library services. Read them here: https://powerlibrary.org/librarians/library-news/.
To respond to limited hours or closures of libraries due to COVID-19 conditions, in FY2020 HSLC maintained and enhanced the Find a PA Library tool. This is a lookup that allows residents to enter a Pennsylvania city or zip code, and receive a list of three nearest public libraries. Library Directors may update their library records with status such as whether a library is open or closed, offers curbside pickup, or offers computer reservations. To try this lookup tool, go to: https://powerlibrary.org/about/find-a-pa-library. To assist users working or learning from home, a new video on how to obtain and ecard was prepared and posted on the POWER Library websites. Four new introductory videos for the general public were created, to highlight each of the main POWER Library services. These were also distilled down to 30 second spots that can be used as public service announcements, or social media posts. The videos may be viewed here: https://powerlibrary.org/videos/
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Content
Mode: Creation
Format: Digital
Quantity
Number of items digitized: 0
Number of items digitized and available to the public: 6,421
Number of physical items: 0
Number of open-source applications/software/systems: 2
Number of proprietary applications/software/systems: 0
Number of learning resources (e.g. toolkits, guides): 0
Number of plans/frameworks: 4
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: No
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: No
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 589
Academic Libraries: 138
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 0
Special Libraries: 64
School Libraries: 2207
Other: 1
